AU Commission appoints High Level African Panel on Emerging Technologies
4 January 2017
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), HE Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has made a landmark decision by appointing ten (10) eminent experts from various fields to serve on the High Level African Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET). The High Level-APET has been constituted in recognition of the need to harness both existing and emerging technologies for the economic development of Africa.
The appointed ten eminent experts are drawn from diverse professional backgrounds and are critical in terms of providing evidence-based analyses and recommendations that should inform policy direction at the continental, regional and national level on the utilization of existing and emerging technologies.
“The adoption of every technology is sometimes associated with controversies bordering on the mix of benefits and potential adverse effects. The appointed High Level African Panel on Emerging Technologies shall be used as a resource pool from which AU Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) can draw expert knowledge and advice” HE Dr Zuma emphasized.
Chairs & members
The High Level-APET consists of 10 leading experts in various fields, representing both gender and geographical demographics and is co-chaired by Prof. Calestous Juma of Harvard University and Prof. Yaye Kène-Gassama Dia of University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar. Other members of the panel include: Prof. Roseanne Diab, Executive Officer of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and Emeritus Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Professor Berhanu Abegaz, Executive Director of the African Academy of Sciences; Professor Francine Ntoumi, currently, Director of the Foundation Congolaise pour la Recherche Médicale and Senior Lecturer at University M. Ngouabi, Congo-Brazzaville; and Professor Abdallah Daar, Professor of Public Health Sciences at the Dalla Lama Faculty of Public Health, University of Toronto, with a cross-appointment in the department of Surgery.